Setting mechanism for predetermining counters



Aug. 16, 1938. w. F. BERCK 2,127,244

SETTING MECHANISM FOR PREDETERMINING COUNTERS Filed Jan. 21, 1937 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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A TTORNEY FIG Aug. 16, 1938. w. F. BERCK 2,127,244

SETTING MECHANISM FOR PREDETERMINING COUNTERS Filed Jan. 21, 1937 2Sheets-Sheet 2 AT! n 4 4/ '42 u I 17 I 29 [9 la INVENTORU maw ATTORNEYPatented Aug. 16, 1938 PATENT OFFICE SETTING MECHANISM FOR PREDETERMIN-ING COUNTERS William F. Berck, Oakland, Calif., assignor to Ralph N.Brodie Company, Oakland, Calif., a corporation of California ApplicationJanuary 21, 1937, Serial No. 121,445

7 Claims.

This invention relates to counter mechanisms for use in connection withliquid meters and like devices.

In a copending application entitled Automatic shut off mechanism forliquid meters", filed May 13, 1935, bearing Serial No. 21,197, I havedisclosed a mechanism for automatically closing a liquid meter shut-oifvalve after a predetermined volume of liquid has passed through themeter with which the valve is associated. This automatic mechanism iscontrolled by a counter mechanism operated by the meter, the setting ofwhich counter mechanism determines the amount of liquid which will bedischarged through the meter before the valve is closed. This countermechanism includes a selected number of counter wheels associated in theusual fashion so that they will operate to indicate units, tens andhundreds. For setting this predetermining counter, I have shown in theabove-identified application each counter wheel fitted with a separateoperating member.

In a second copending application entitled "Setting mechanism forpredetermining counters, filed May 13, 1935, bearing Serial No. 21,196,I have shown an improved construe ion of such predetermining countermechan sms wherein the setting of all the counter wheels may be eilectedby manipulation of a single operating member. In this mechanism thecounter wheel was selected for setting by shifting the operating membercoaxially with respect to the wheels and then turning the same to setthe counter wheel so selected.

It is the principal object of my present invention to improve andsimplify the construction and operation of predetermining counters ofthe character referred to whereby I am enabled to produce such a devicewherein the counter wheels may be selectively engaged and set by simplyrevolving a single operating member.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a predetermining counter mechanismembodying the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal section therethrough showing theoperating member in position to operate the units wheel.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the operating member in position to setthe tens wheel.

Fig. 4- is a similar view showing the operating member in position toset the hundreds wheel.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a similar transverse section showing merely the counter wheelbut disclosing the manner in which the pawl is rendered ineffective whenthis counter wheel is not selected for operation.

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the actuating shaft.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the sleeve in which the actuating memberis mounted.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on line IXIX of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view taken on line X X of Fig. 2.

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view taken on line XI-X[ of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, I thereillustrate what I prefer to term a predetermining counter Hi. Thiscounter includes a units wheel II, a tens wheel l2 and a hundreds wheelIt. The units wheel H is driven by a worm gear l5 which is driven by themeter through the medium of a worm IS. The counter wheels ll, 12 and Hare operatively associated as in standard practice by mutilated gearsand pinions so that upon each revolution of the units wheel ii, the tenswheel revolves one-tenth of a revolution, and upon each completerevolution 01 the tens wheel, the hundreds wheel I! revolves one-tenthof a revolution.

For this purpose a pinion shaft I1 is provided on which is mounted apinion l8 for driving the tens wheel l2 and a pinion IQ for driving thehundreds wheel H. The units wheel H is fltted with a mutilated gear 20to mesh with and drive the pinion l8, and the tens wheel I2 is fittedwith a mutilated gear 2| to mesh with and drive the pinion IS. Thepinion i 8 is in mesh with a gear 22 on the adjacent tens wheel, and thepinion I9 is in mesh with a gear 23 on the adjacent hundreds wheel. Theratio is such that the units wheel II will intermittently drive the gear22 one-tenth of a revolution each time the units wheel completes onerevolution, and the tens wheel will intermittently drive the gear 23onetenth of a revolution each time the tens wheel completes onerevolution. The gears 22 and 23 are connected to the tens and hundredswheels, respectively, through a ratchet mechanism disclosed in Figs. 3and 9.

From these figures it will be seen that the tens and hundreds wheels areeach fitted with an-internal ratchet wheel 24 engageable by pivotalpawls 25 carried by the gears 22 and 23. The

engagement is such that rotation in one direction by the gears 22 and 23will drive the wheels l2 and I4, and thus the latter wheels are free tobe turned in the same direction. This, of course, permits settingthereof and it is to be understood that the direction referred to iscounterclockwise as the parts are viewed looking from left to right inFigure 1 and as they appear in Figures 5 and 6. This same relationbetweendirections of rotation will hereinafter be adhered to, and itmust not be lost sight of that Figures 10 and 11 view the parts fromright to left as indicated by the arrows of the section lines X-X andXI-XI of Figure 2, and thus opposite to Figures 5 and 6. The units wheelII is likewise fitted with a similar ratchet wheel 23 engaged by pawls21 carried by a disk 23, which disk is driven by the worm gear I! asshown in Fig. 3.

The predetermined counter here disclosed (as shown and described in mycopending application Ser. No. 21,197 previously referred to) isintended to be utilized to indicate the volume of liquid it is desiredto discharge through the meter with which it is associated. For example,should the volume desired be 125 gallons, the units wheel is set at 5,the tens wheel is set at 2 and the hundred wheel is set at 1. When themeter commences operating, these counter wheels retrograde toward zero,and when all three reach zero, they operate a trip mechanism whichcauses closing of the meter shut-ofi valve, thus stopping the meter, Forthis purpose the three counter wheels are each fitted with a trip member23 relatively associated with a valve trip mechanism not illustrated. Itis believed unnecessary to go into the description of the trippingoperation here inasmuch as the present invention relates solely to themeans of presetting the counter wheels H, I! and i4 prior to theoperation of the meter.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen thatthe counter mechanism is mounted in a frame which includes uprightmembers 30, 3| and 32. Journalled in the upright members and 3| is atubular shield or sleeve 33 in which is rotatably disposed an actuatingspindle 34. At its innermost end this spindle is journalled in the wormgear IS, the shaft of which is journalled in the upright member 33.Mounted on the outer end of this actuating spindle so as to benon-rotatable with respect thereto is an operating knob 35. By turningthis knob the actuating spindle 34 may be revolved.

It is essential that the sleeve or shield 33 be prevented from rotationin a clockwise direc tion viewing the parts as in Figures 5 and 6 asabove stated and for this reason keyed on the sleeve is a ratchet wheel33, which ratchet wheel cooperates with a spring-pressed dog 31 carriedby the frame adjacent the upright member 30 thereof. This spring-presseddog 3'! permits the ratchet wheel and the sleeve 33.to which it is keyedto revolve in a counter-clockwise direction but not in a clockwisedirection. It should be stated that the operating knob is so mounted onthe sleeve 33 that it and the actuating spindle 34 may revolve relativetothe sleeve in a clockwise fashion but will be latched to the sleeve soas to revolve in a counter-clockwise direction therewith. That is tosay, when the operating knob 35 is revolved in a clockwise direction, itand the actuating spindle 34 revolve relative to the sleeve 33, but whenthe knob 35 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction, it and thespindle 34 and the sleeve 33 revolve in unison.

The purpose of permitting the spindle 34 to revolve in a clockwisedirection relative to the sleeve is to enable the selection of one ofthe counter wheels for turning. For this purpose each counter wheel isprovided with a springpressed pawl 38 as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6,and when the wheels are all set at zero, the pawls of the three counterwheels II, II and I4 are in alignment. In register with each pawl 33,the sleeve 33 is formed with a circumferential slot 39 through which thepawls 33 project to engage the periphery of the actuating spindle 3,4.

The spindle 34 has three pawl-engaging notches 40, 4| and 42 in itsperipheral surface which are circumferentially spaced apart ninetydegrees and while these notches are disposed longitudinally of thespindle to register with the slots 33 of the sleeve 33, it is obviousthat, owing to their circumferential spacing, when one of the notches ofthe spindle is registered with one of the slots 33, the other twonotches will be shielded by the sleeve 33.

From Figs. 5 and 6 it will be noticed that the notches 40, 4! and 42 ofthe actuating spindle are formed by the use of an end mill so thatrotation of the actuating spindle 34 in a counterclockwise directionwill so engage the proper pawl 38 that rotation of the actuating spindle34 will be accompanied by rotation of the selected counter wheel, butthat the rotation of the actuating spindle 34 in a clockwise directionwill be ineffective to turn the counter wheels.

To latch the knob 35,the spindle 34 and the sleeve 33 together, when theknob is turned in a counter-clockwise direction for setting the counterwheels, the outer end of the sleeve 33 is formed with three slots 43, 44and 45, which are spaced ninety degrees apart. For cooperation withthese slots, the knob 35 is provided with a spring-pressed pawl 46, somounted that when engaged with one of the slots 43, 44 and and the knob35 is turned counter-clockwise, the sleeve 33 will be turned in unisonwith the knob. When the knob 35 is turned in a clockwise direction, thepawl 43 is ineffective to impart rotation to the sleeve 33. The pawl 43will be in register with the slot 43 of the sleeve when the notch 42 isin register with the respective slot 39 of sleeve 33 to receive the pawl33 of the units wheel II at zero position of the latter. When the knoband spindle 34 are turned to place the notch 4! in the spindle 34 'inregister with the pawl 38 of the tens wheel II, the pawl 43 of the knobwill be in register with the slot 44 of the sleeve 33. When the notch 43is in register with the pawl 38 of the hundreds wheel, the pawl 46 ofthe knob will be in register with the slot 45 in the sleeve 33.

Consequently, when the pawl is engaged with the slot 43 and is turned ina counter-clockwise direction, the knob 35, the spindle 34, the sleeve33 and the units wheel Ii will turn in unison so that the units wheelmay be set to any reading. When the knob pawl 43 is engaged with theslot 44 in the sleeve, the spindle 34 will be positioned to position thenotch 4i in the spindle in latching register with the pawl 33 of thetens wheel [2, and upon subsequent rotation in a counter-clockwisedirection of the knob 33, the knob, the sleeve 33, the spindle 34 andthe tens wheel II will be revolved in unison so as to set the tenswheel. If the knob is then turned in a clockwise direction to registerits pawl 43 with 38 of the hundreds wheel I4.

the slot 45, the spindle 34 will be turned to register the notch 4' withthe pawl 38 of the hundreds wheel I 4 so that upon subsequent rotationof the knob 35 in a counter-clockwise rotation, the knob 35, the spindle34, the sleeve 33 and the hundreds wheel I4 will be turned in unison toset the latter to any desired reading.

In order that the operator may determine the relative position of thespindle with respect to the sleeve and counter wheels, I have provided aslot 41 in the inner end of the sleeve 33, which slot is adapted to beengaged by a spring-pressed ball 48 carried by the spindle 34 when thenotch 42 in the spindle is in register with the pawl 38 of the unitswheel II. If it is desired to operate the device, the operator turns theknob in a clockwise direction until he is sensibly aware of theengagement of the ball 48 with the slot 41. This informs him that thenotch 42 is in reg ster with the pawl 38 of the units wheel H and thatthe knob pawl 46 is in register with the slot 43 of the sleeve 33. Thisgives the operator a starting point in setting or presetting the countermechanism.

In operation of the device, it is constructed and assembledsubstantially as illustrated in the drawings and operatively associatedwith the meter, and if it is a quantity controlled device, it isoperatively associated with the shut-off valve trip mechanism of themeter.

Assuming that all of the counter wheels indicate zero, as they arenumbered in standard practice, and it is desired to have the meterdischarge say 125 gallons, the actuating spindle 34 is turned in aclockwise direction by applying a turning movement to the knob 35 untilthe ball 48 engages the slot 41 in the sleeve 33. The operator will feelthis engagement inasmuch as it takes some force to overcome thisengagement. Immediately that he feels this engagement, he is made awarethat the notch 42 in the actuating spindle 34 is in register with theproper slot in the sleeve 33 and with the pawl 38 of the units wheel II.By turning the knob 35 in a counterclockwise direction. the counterwheel may be turned until it indicates the numeral 5. The knob 35 isthen turned in a clockwise direction, during which movement the sleeve33 will remainstationary due to the provision of the ratchet wheel 36and dog 31. By turning the actuating spindle 34 in a clockwisedirection. the notch 42 is turned out of register with the pawl 38 ofthe units wheel II, and when it is turned ninety degrees, it places thenotch 4| in the actuating spindle into register with the proper slot inthe sleeve 33 and with the pawl 38 of the tens wheel l2. At the sametime this places the knob pawl 45 into register with the slot 44 in thesleeve, and upon subsequent rotation of the knob in a counter-clockwisedirection the tens wheel will be rotated sufllciently to set it so thatit places the numeral 2 thereof in indicating no tion. The knob 35 isthen turned to turn the spindle 34 in a clockwise direction for at leastninety degrees to place the notch 4| out of register with the pawl 38 ofthe tens wheel 12 and to place the notch 40 in register with the pawlThe knob 35 is then turned in a counter-clockwise d rection sufllcientlyto set it so that the numeral 1 thereon is in indicating position. Afterthis setting, the meter shut-off valve is opened so that the meter maycommence operating.

Operation of the meter will be accompanied by operation of the worm geardrive I5 which will in turn properly drive the counter wheels ll, l2 andI4 as previously described. These wheels will be driven in the directionof the arrow in Fig. 5 and will retrograde toward zero. When the zerosonithe three wheels all align with the indicating position, the tripmember 29 of these wheels will cause tripping of the shut-off valve toclose the same and shut off the meter.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided an improved andsimplified setting mechanism for counters, by means of which mechanismthe counter may be set by simply revolving a single knob or operatingmember.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising. a rotatable actuatingmember, a plurality of rotatable elements rotatably mounted about theaxis of said member, and complementary means on said elements and saidmember whereby the latter may be set by rotation in one direction toselectively engage any one of said elements to adjust the position ofthe selected element by rotation of said member in the oppositedirection.

2. A device of the character described comprising a plurality ofrotatable elements, an operating member extending coaxially therethroughand freely rotatable in one direction in respect thereto, cooperatingratchet means on said member and on each of said elements and capable ofselection by rotation of said member in the aforesaid direction, saidratchet means forming a driving connection between said member and theselected element operable to adjust the said element upon movement ofthe said operating member in the opposite direction of rotation.

3. A device of the character described comprising a plurality ofrotatable elements, an operating member extending coaxially therethroughand capable of rotation relative thereto in one direction, cooperatingratchet means between said member and each of said elements and capableof being successively rendered effective by rotation of said member inthe same direction, said ratchet means efifective to adjustably shiftthe selected element upon rotation of said member in the oppositedirection.

4. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of counterwheels, an actuating member extending coaxially therethrough, a pawlcarried by each wheel, said member being formed with means adapted to beselectively placed in register with the pawl of a selected wheel uponrotation of said member in one direction, the pawl of the selected wheeland the means on said member forming a driving connection between thetwo when the member is turned in the other direction.

5. A device of the character described cor-prising a plurality ofcounter wheels, an actuating member extending coaxially therethrough, apawl carried by each wheel, said actuating member having a socket toregister with each pawl, said sockets being relatively difierentlypositioned about the circumference of said member and so formed wherebythey may be independently and successively brought into register withthe pawl of a selected wheel by rotation of said member in onedirection, and the pawl oi the selected wheel will be engaged by thecooperating socket when the member is turned in the opposite direction.6. A device of the character described comprising a rotatably supportedspindle held against endwlse movement, a sleeve mounted on said spindle,a plurality oi rotatable elements rotatably mounted on said sleeve, aspring-pressed pawl on each element. said sleeve having acircumierential slot for each pawl and normally in register therewith,said spindle being formed with a series of circumierentially spacednotches, one notch for each pawl, the circumferential spacing betweensaid notches being such that only one thereoi may register with a slotin the sleeve at one time, the relation of the notches and pawls beingsuch as to form a driving connection between the selected notch and the,pawl oi the selected element when said spindle is rotated in onedirection and to be ineffective when said spindle is revolved in theopposite direction.

7. A device oi the character described comprising a rotatably supportedspindle held against endwise movement, a sleeve mounted on said spindle,a plurality of rotatable elements rotatably mounted on said sleeve, aspring-pressed pawl on each element, said sleeve having acircumierential slot ior each pawl and in register therewith, saidspindle being formed with a series of circumierentially spaced notches,one notch [or each pawl, the circumferential spacing between saidnotches being such that only one thereof may register with a slot in thesleeve at one time, the relation of the notches and pawls being such asto term a driving connection between the selected notch and the pawl 01the selected element when said spindle is rotated in one direction andto be ineiiective when said spindle is revolved in the oppositedirection, connections between said spindle and said sleeve constrainingsaid sleeve to revolve together with said spindle in the first-nameddirection, and means holding said sleeve against rotation in theopposite direction.

WILLIAM 1". BERCK.

